100 race wins at the level of competition involved in 21st century sportscar racing is something to celebrate, and whist the designers, engineers and background boys and girls are vital for those achievements we’re taking a moment to focus on the drivers that have figured in those wins.
28 men have taken at least one win for Audi and seven have won more than ten. 15 have won the Le Mans 24 Hours for the 4 rings!
Dindo Capello leads the roll of honour with an astonishing 31 wins. Allan McNish though has that total in sight sitting on 29.
Drivers Race Wins
Capello 31
McNish 29
Biela 26
Kristensen 24
Pirro 20
Werner 20
Lehto 12
Fassler 7
Herbert 7
Treluyer 7
Lotterer 6
Luhr 6
Duval 4
Kaffer 4
Ara 3
Alboreto 2
Davies 2
Dumas 2
Aiello 1
Bernhard 1
Gene 1
Jarvis 1
Johansson 1
Lemarie 1
Ortelli 1
Pescatori 1
Peter 1
Rockenfeller 1
Blue Riband Races
Tom Kristensen, of course, leads the order in terms of Le Mans wins at the head of that list of 15 drivers.
Kristensen tops the order in Sebring wins too, 5 wins to his name, though he shares that position with Capello. It’s Dindo’s 5 wins though that top the PLM order. And it’s the Italian too that shares the pole position tally total, even stevens with McNish on 23.
Le Mans Wins
Kristensen 8
Pirro 5
Biela 5
McNish 3
Werner 3
Capello 2
Fassler 2
Lotterer 2
Treluyer 2
Ara 1
Bernhard 1
Dumas 1
Duval 1
Lehto 1
Rockenfeller 1
Sebring Wins
Capello 5
Kristensen 5
Biela 4
McNish 4
Werner 3
Pirro 2
Aiello, Alboreto, Fassler, Herbert, Jarvis, Kaffer, Lehto. Pescatori, Peter, Treluyer 1
Petit Le Mans Wins
Capello 5
McNish 4
Pirro 3
Biela 2
Lehto 2
Alboreto, Kristensen, Werner 1
Pole Positions
Capello 23
McNish 23 *
Biela 22
Kristensen 8
Werner 8
Treluyer 4 *
Fassler 3 *
Lehto 3
Pirro 3
Duval 2 *
Herbert 2
Lotterer 2 *
Bernhard 1
Johansson 1
Lemarie 1
Luhr 1
*Pole shared under 2013 WEC rules
Winning Teams –
The factory team dominate the total with 70 of those 100 wins falling to the factory steamroller.
There are though 6 other teams that can find an Audi winning trophy in the cabinet, two of them with Le Mans wins and all of them in Audi R8s (though with plenty of factory tech support sprinkled in this little lot.
Factory (Audi Sport Team Joest and North America) 70
ADT Champion 20
Audi Sport UK Veloqx 5
Team Goh 2
Audi Belgium 1
Gulf 1
Oreca 1
One final list to consider – Who managed to beat the Audi phenomenon?
The answer is 11 different cars from 13 different teams have managed it 48 times in 13 years of competition.
Peugeot actually dominated the 6 hour race stakes, beating Audi time after time but falling short all but once in the big one at Le Mans. That said the 908s in factory and Oreca hands took 16 wins before the plug was pulled.
The nimble Porsche RS Spyder took no fewer than 11 wins in the ALMS against factory Audi opposition and there were famous wins from the Panoz Roadsters and the Dyson MG Lolas.
Only Peugeot and Bentley have managed to beat Audi at Le Mans since the turn of the century, and then only once each.
Perhaps the least known winner against Audi opposition came in 2002 at the Suzuka 1000kms when the Team Goh Audi R8 failed to finish, the overall win taken by the GT500 spec Esso Toyota Team Le Mans Supra!
(this total excludes the Kolles run R10 TDIs)
Beaten by
Peugeot 16 (15 factory 1 Oreca)
Porsche Spyder 11 (Penske)
Panoz Roadster 5 (factory)
MG Lola 4 (Dyson)
Zytek 3 (Arena)
Toyota TS030 3 (factory)
Acura 2 (1 Patron Highcroft, 1 Andretti Green)
Bentley 1 (factory)
Courage 1 (factory)
Pescarolo 1 (factory)
Toyota Supra 1 (Esso Team Le Mans)
